On Demand News

Releasing this Week:"Halloween": Murderous Michael Myers (played partially by the original actor, Nick Castle) wreaks havoc on the small Illinois town of Haddonfield again. You just know former babysitter Laurie Strode still has to be around, and Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the part with new reasons for the character to be wary of the newly escaped Myers ... namely, her daughter and granddaughter, played by Judy Greer and Andi Matichak. *** (R: AS, N, P,
V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"The Old Man and the Gun": This fact-inspired portrait of a career criminal who just can't give up robbery suits Robert Redford ideally. The crook folds in many reminders of other Redford alter egos -- very particularly, the Sundance Kid, who also charmed his victims while letting them know exactly what he was up to. Danny Glover and Tom Waits are felonious associates, Casey Affleck is a cop on the robbers' trail, and a wonderful Sissy Spacek is a woman Redford's alter ego encounters while he's on the run. *** (PG-13: AS, P) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"Goosebumps 2": Originally subtitled "Haunted Halloween'' to coincide with the season of its theatrical release, this edition of the R.L. Stine-inspired franchise finds two youngsters unwittingly unleashing ventriloquist dummy Slappy... and causing a whole bunch of horrifying trouble by doing so. Author Stine himself becomes part of the action, as personified by Jack Black, who reprises the role from the preceding "Goosebumps'' movie. *** (PG: AS) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"Speed Kills": John Travolta plays several characters rolled into one in this fact-inspired action tale, casting him as a vastly wealthy man who also happens to be a speedboat-racing champion ... a trait that may be an asset as his covert dealings in the drug trade position him very uneasily between DEA agents and mobsters. Travolta always seems to take particular glee in playing characters who flirt with the wrong side of the law, and that's the case again here, giving the film its biggest lure. *** (R: AS, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)(more)

"What They Had": Solid acting by an expert cast does much for writer-director Elizabeth Chomko's drama, featuring Hilary Swank as a woman drawn home to Chicago at her brother's (Michael Shannon) urging. Their mother (Blythe Danner) is in failing health, and their father (Robert Forster) is having a hard time accepting the situation. Naturally, emotions run high as the returnee tries to manage the feelings and concerns of all involved. *** (R: AS, P)"Hell Fest": You can see a lot of the plot coming from a mile away -- even if its central characters can't, of course -- but this horror tale was ideally timed for its pre-Halloween theatrical release. The setting is a seasonal exhibit at a theme park where so many people seem to fall victim to evil, it's hard for those in attendance to tell the difference between the staged show and a killer's actual crimes. ** (R: AS, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"mid90s": Quite familiar for his acting, Jonah Hill makes an impressive debut as a director with this drama, which he also wrote. A youth's (Sunny Suljic) troubled home life leads him to get in over his head, in several ways, when he immerses himself in skateboarding. The film goes to some very dark places emotionally, something that might not be expected from Hill ... making his achievement here that much more impressive. *** (R: AS, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)

"Night School": Resuming his education many years after he dropped out proves quite revelatory for a man (Kevin Hart) who needs a GED result for a job he wants in this comedy. Tiffany Haddish plays the night-school teacher, whom he manages to infuriate with his antics almost instantly, but she eventually takes a special interest in him and helps him toward making the grade. *** (PG-13: AS, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"Bad Times at the El Royale": This moody melodrama draws a number of disparate characters together at a rundown motel on the border of California and Nevada in the late 1960s. Each has his or her own secrets to keep, but that becomes difficult in the face of bad weather and the arrival of someone else whose presence prompts some surprising revelations by the others. *** (R: AS, N, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"Bad Reputation": The music-business journey of the influential and decidedly unconventional Joan Jett is traced in this documentary, a testament to how perseverance can pay off ... since she literally started her career out of her car trunk after facing rejection from numerous labels. The last laugh would be hers, since she became pivotal to two iconic bands (the Runaways and the Blackhearts) and released such enduring hits as "I Love Rock `n Roll,'' "I Hate Myself for Loving You'' and this film's title tune -- and she also has been an actress on occasion ("Light of Day''). *** (R: AS, N, P)

Releasing this Week:"White Boy Rick": With the distinction of being virtually the only new home-video release on Christmas Day, this fact-inspired drama casts Matthew McConaughey as the father of a teenager (Richie Merritt) who becomes the youngest FBI informant in history. The Detroit youth eventually gets into dealing drugs, then is left largely to fend for himself by the federal handlers who got him into the habit of giving up others by revealing their illegal activities. *** (R: AS, N, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)

New releases are very much on the light side this holiday week, so here's a look at several seasonal staples:"It's a Wonderful Life": James Stewart makes the perfect George Bailey, the hapless Bedford Falls citizen whose experience of seeing how life would be without him has been echoed by countless TV-series episodes. Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and -- as wing-earning angel Clarence -- Henry Travers lend great support. **** (Not rated) (Also on Blu-ray)"Miracle on 34th Street": Is, or isn't, a department-store Santa the real Father Christmas? As others debate the man's true identity, Edmund Gwenn gives an Oscar-winning performance opposite a young Natalie Wood, who plays a skeptical youngster eventually on the verge of becoming a true believer. *** (Not rated) (Also on Blu-ray)"White Christmas": This tuneful 1954 retooling of the 12-years-earlier "Holiday Inn'' makes great use of its Irving Berlin score. Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye are an ideal team as military veterans who become successful entertainment partners, then use their talents to help their former commander (Dean Jagger) re-energize his failing resort. Rosemary Clooney -- aunt of George -- and Vera-Ellen are charmers as the sisters who distract the guys. **** (Not rated) (Also on Blu-ray)(more)

"A Simple Favor": Anna Kendrick plays a video-blogging widow and mom who meets -- and is dazzled by -- the stylish Blake Lively, both having children who go to the same Connecticut school. They become fast friends, leaving Kendrick puzzled and dismayed when Lively suddenly disappears. Of course, she's determined to find out why. *** (R: AS, N, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"Venom": Another Marvel Comics character gets the spotlight in this fantasy-adventure about a fired journalist (Tom Hardy) whose efforts to expose a bioengineering tycoon's (Riz Ahmed) experiments with alien symbiotes ultimately leave him bonded with one of the creatures himself ... physically transforming him at key moments in his battle with the mogul, whose own physiology is affected by another of the symbiotes. *** (PG-13: P, V) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"The Predator": The franchise that began more than 30 years ago with an Arnold Schwarzenegger adventure-thriller was revived by this latest installment, bringing another of the lethal title aliens to Earth. An autistic youngster (Jacob Tremblay) -- whose father (Boyd Holbrook) is among the military veterans trying to stop the threat -- becomes the key to vanquishing the enemy, but other, literally bigger terrors lie in wait. *** (R: AS, P, GV) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand)"The House with a Clock in Its Walls": Adapted from John Bellairs' Edward Gorey-illustrated book, this fantasy casts young Owen Vaccaro as an orphan who teams with a warlock and a witch (Jack Black, Cate Blanchett) to find -- and to find the meaning of -- a clock that his parents hid while they were alive. Otherworldly elements have a very big place in the story, letting the picture's special effects team have a field day. *** (PG: AS, P) (Also on Blu-ray and On Demand) (more)

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